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"xbill" for Mac OS X
An anonymous reader writes "Seems like some guys have made a GPL'd Mac OS X game called xGates. It's very similar to xbill but you get to use a chainsaw and it's awfully violent. Funny to see how the Mac community is slowly but surely becoming UNIXified. =)" Hey, xbill was a Unix app first, but we Mac users have hated Microsoft and Gates since before Linux or xbill even existed! :-)
This wrong on 4 different levels of wrongness. I love it!
Karma: The shiznight, mostly because I am the Drizzle.
Aren't there already x^n versions of xbill?
Funny to see how the Mac community is slowly but surely becoming UNIXified.
Next they will be using the terminal app. Seriously though, transitioning from OS9 to OSX must be a bit like moving from an automatic to a stick shift.
Watch this get modded down because it's mac related.
Looks like XBill dates to 1994 -- "XBill was mostly written during the summer of 1994 by Brian Wellington and Matias Duarte". While Mac OS X is newer than this, the Macintosh OS and Mac community date back at least a decade before 1994, to the infamous Superbowl ad in 1984, and some would probably even argue before this, to the Lisa and Apple IIe systems if you allow for Mac Users == Apple Users.
xbill was ported to OSX almost a year ago.
t o/ 8861/mac/#macbill
http://www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-PaloAl
`fortune -o`
hmmm. us Amiga users were hating IBM and Microsoft before Macs or Unix or X-Anything existed
Amiga One! Just wait!
so that's why all your efforts are to having MS produce word, excel and IE for Mac...
gimme a break... you've been sucking Bill's tite since the dawn of windows...
I may be missing something, but it looks a lot like this game is poking fun at Microsoft (the software company based in Redmond, Washington). If you look at some of the screenshots, the "bill" that they use looks a lot like Bill Gates, one of Microsoft's founders. And the description they give of the "enemy" you're fighting resembles some of the mainstream media's portrayals of Microsoft (you may have seen them in the news a few times.) Gosh, I hope they noticed the resemblence...someone over at Microsoft (even Bill Gates) might be uncomfortable with this!
But it's GPLed!
Other than porting, what exactly can you do with the code for a chainsaw game?
Oh yeah, BFC mods.
Anyone reading this been using a Mac long enough to remember "Bash Big Blue", which was just clicking on a jumping around IBM logo. I remember playing that on my family's Mac Plus back with the original Daleks game, Airborne, and Orbiter.
It's a simplistic game, but as Brain says when he flattens Pinky, "That was very therapeutic." Of course, the DoJ was useless! And of course, no matter how much you might, Bill wins in the end.
Oh, and nice Rammstein soundtrack! Some of the other interface elements reminded me of the classic Ambrosia game Maelstrom.(which was ported to UNIX and later back to OS X)
"Common Sense Ain't" -Unknown
Firstly, there is a huge problem. Bill installs Windows WAY too fast. If anyone I know could install Windows on a Mac in THAT short of time, I would think they switched it into an Intel machine. Even VPC doesn't load that fast ;)
Secondly, as we all know, when Bill play with Windows in public, it blue screens. None of the Macs bluescreened once he installed Windows....
Good start, but we need more realism...and more bloody pieces of Bill lying around.
.sig: It's what's for dinner.
Well said.
MS bites. I think we pretty much agree on that. But to take MS-bashing to the point where we revel in images of the chairman of the company being graphically dismembered, we've crossed a line somewhere.
i remember playing "xbill" long before the X windows version was written. it was on a mac se, long ago. if you read the xbill history in the tarball (or help screens), you'll notice they pay homage to the original mac game. so, the game concept returns back to its source.
no Windows version? How is 90% of the population supposed to play? This game will go nowhere.
I thought it was the other way around. Seriously, I'm not trying to start arguments, but with all the talk I've heard about how OS X is the first Unix with a nice interface, I would think that Unix users have become somewhat Mac-ified. I don't hear nearly as much talk from old-time Mac users about how wonderful it is to have a CLI or Perl. I hear more chatter and excitement from the other site about how it's nice to have an interface that works so well. :^)
Too egocentric either way. Both statements are probably true--Mac users and Unix users have probably moved toward each other.
--Rick "If it isn't broken, take it apart and find out why."
Mac - Pc haters for the most part actually know what they are talking about while most "How to turn on your computer for dummies" kind of people hate Macs because they probably can't afford them or they are too dumb to actually research it and just read that Micro$oft biased PC-World Magazine. I'm sure if Macs were cheaper they would dominate the market and if it was before the PC took off. Ah those were the times when most computers had no monitors and you plugged it into your tv.
...gives so much of his [clip]...to third world countries...
Strictly to buy favor for his corporation...don't think for one shrink-wrapped minute his heart bleeds for anything but his bottom line.
gates deserves as much respect as an unlined trashcan.
we Mac users have hated Microsoft and Gates since before Linux or xbill even existed!
Is that why you all use MS Office, MSIE, and buy hardware from a company that's partly owned by Microsoft...? Right...
MS handed over $16 million to Apple as a patent settlement. Think courtroom, not boardroom. It was _not_ an investment. Try again.
Blasted MS dolt-troll's can't help drinking the koolaid.
phrggggrrrt!
[[]]
Get your facts straight before posting. Wait, i got it - don't get your facts straight and don't post. How's that?
"And I'm too stupid to find one of the many sites that explain how to use the Terminal - Using Google is too haaaaard"
Of course it was an investment. That way Microsoft can say to the judge, "see, there's competition - Apple - we're not a monopoly", when in fact they control Apple too. Over 98% of Mac users use MSIE as their browser and over 90% use MS Office for word processing / spreadsheets / etc.. So the OS isn't sold by Microsoft. Big deal. The OS by itself doesn't do much. As Apple used to say, "it's not what the computer does, it's what you can do with it". And most people with Macs use Microsoft software too. In fact, MS Office and MSIE are more dominant in the Mac market than in the Windows market.
With 'enemies' like these, MS doesn't need any friends.
I'm not saying the Linux community is entirely consistent, either. They say Microsoft sucks but then they spend all their time trying to copy Microsoft's look & feel. But at least they're just trying to make a copy, they're not using (and paying for) the original.
RMN
~~~
How about you post with your real name instead of telling other people to shut up as AC...?
RMN
~~~
Where's the shovel...it's deep in here. Sad, actually, how some people earn a living.
can't we all just get along?
Readme document accompanying xGates 1.0. Date 20/10/2002
xGATES
BILL is the owner of a powerful software company known for its monopolistic and predatory business practices, not to mention ruthless extermination of competitors. Now Bill has ported his market-dominant operating system to the Mac in an attempt to wipe out the last remaining obstacle between him and COMPLETE WORLD DOMINATION!
BILL will attempt to replace the trusty old MacOS system on the world's various Macs with his own twisted derivative. Only YOU and your trusty CHAINSAW can prevent Bill from achieving his megalomaniac goal.
On your way you will find allies to help you in your noble quest. Occasionally "THE MAN" himself will appear and undo Bill's foul mistreatment of his precious Macs. A lesser but none the less valuable ally is the DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, which occasionally sees it fit to prosecute Bill for anti-trust violations. This will slow him down and distract him from the task at hand.
GET TECHNICAL, YOU RHETORICAL DUNDERHEAD!
xGates is a free computer game for the MacOS platform and is distributed under the terms of the Free Software Foundation's GNU General Public License, which should have accompanied your copy of the game. The game itself is written for the Carbon Application Programming Interfaces and will run on both MacOS Classic and on MacOS X. However, these are two seperate executable binaries. You can download xGates in a myriad of places, but first and foremost on the Soth Development website at http://soth.zoneit.com.
Requirements
150Mhz PowerPC 604e or better microprocessor (results may vary)
6 Megabytes of Random Access Memory
Approx. 2.5 Megabytes of Hard Drive space
MacOS Classic (8.1 or later with CarbonLib 1.2 and Drawsprockets) or MacOS X 10.1 or later.
By default, xGates uses the "Blit Entire Screen" option, which is an unoptimized processor hog. If you experience performance problems, then you can turn this off for more optimized performance in the Geek Options menu and/or turn off the game music and sounds. In some cases, switching to 16-bit (thousands) color will help.
The Geek Options Menu
No Chainsaw Jamming (default: off)
Turns off chainsaw jamming, which theoretically allows you to hold down the mouse button for an indefinite period of time while playing xGates. However, due to some flaw in either my own programming skills or the MacOS design, the framerate will drop severely after a period of time if the mouse button is not released. Not recommended, really.
Blit Entire Screen (default: on)
This highly unoptimized and silly way of blitting xGates animations is the default. Why? Because it feels smoother, and it runs quite easily on a 300Mhz G3, hardly colossal requirements by today's standards. Disabling this will in all probability double your framerate. Recommended for people with slow processors.
Fixed Framerate (default: on)
xGates runs by default at 30 frames per second. If this option is disabled, the game will run as fast as the computer processor is capable of handling, which will in most cases result in extremely poor and unsatisfactory gameplay.
Draw FPS (default: off)
Only really interesting if you've disabled Fixed Framerate. A small black square listing Frames Per Second will be drawn in the corner of the game screen.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Below you'll find a list of questions I have taken the liberty of assuming will be frequently asked if they are not promptly dealt with. If you have further questions, please direct them to my email address, which is listed at the bottom of this document.
Q: Why make xGates?
If we tackle this question from a philosophical perspective, it becomes obvious that it's just as reasonable to ask "Why not xGates?". Why indeed? My motives probably wouldn't interest you, but if it makes you feel better you can take solace in the knowledge that factors such as boredom, idleness and an abundance of free time coupled with 1337 programming skillz tend to produce the most bizarre of things. Of course, a certain level of animosity towards this guy called Bill played a part.
Q: Why call it xGates?
The way I see it, there's already an "xbill" out there. I considered other alternatives but finally settled on this one.
Q: Is xGates affiliated with xbill in any way? Do they have common code?
A: No, on both counts. I have only played xbill once or twice on Linux, but I liked the game concept and expanded it to create a Mac counterpart. Apart from this and the fact that they're both GPL'd, they have little in common.
Q: Who is that guy with the chainsaw anyway?
A: We call him Ned. He is the product of Haukur Valdimar Palsson's fertile imagination but he probably exists somewhere in an alternate universe. Please consult us before ripping the artwork featuring him and Bill.
Q: I want to program for the Mac. Can I get the source code?
A: Certainly. xGates is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License and is thus open source software. You should have received a copy of the license with xGates. If you did not, please contact the Free Software Foundation (http://www.fsf.org). If you didn't get the source along with xGates, you can download it from the Soth Development website at http://soth.zoneit.com.
Q: Are you going to make xGates II?
A: At this point it's impossible to say, but I consider it likely. I have some good ideas on additional gameplay features for a sequel (for example weapon upgrades, more gore etc.) and it wouldn't take too much work to implement them. However, keep in mind that anybody can expand xGates as he pleases, due to the open source nature of the GNU GPL.
Q: When I run xGates, I get the message "Could not load DrawSprocketLib library" and then it quits. What's wrong?
A: xGates requires the DrawSprocketsLib extension to be enabled in the Extensions Manager. DrawSprockets has been part of the default MacOS install for a long time but if you don't have them installed you can download them from Apple's website.
Q: When I'm running xGates, I get an error message and then the game quits.
A: Aah, this means you have found a bug in the code or that the application resource fork is corrupt. See "Bugs" document for further info.
BUGS
xGates has not been particularly well beta-tested. I count on you, Joe User, to notify me of bugs and error that detract from the pleasure of playing the game. Optimal feedback would list Extensions, operating system, video card and game version.
Known bugs
- If you change the monitor resolution while playing xGates, it starts to draw the chainsaw and game objects with white backgrounds that overlap. If you manually change the resolution from within xGates, you'll get a warning about this. Relaunching the game should fix it.
- If you select "No Chainsaw Jamming" from the Geek Options Menu and then hold down the mouse button for extended periods of time while playing the game, you'll experience an extreme framerate drop.
CHANGES
24/11/2002 - xGates 1.0 released.
CREDITS
Programming, Game Design, In-Game Graphics
Sveinbjorn Thordarson
Pencil Artwork
Haukur Valdimar Palsson
Interface Graphics
Magnus David Magnusson
I would also like to thank the following for their interest, comments, criticism and support:
Brynjar Eiriksson
Thorlindur Thorolfsson
As far as I know, Microsoft does not make or sell any Linux software. Lots of Mac users use Windows boxes too. Your point was...?
RMN
~~~
Apple iTroll modding down posts in old threads because he got his ass kicked in a different thread. Typical. And sad. Get a life, Mr. Bibbs.